Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak faced the media Saturday to say authorities are sure enough about the track of their search for Flight MH370 to pull resources away from the South China Sea.

The Malaysia Airlines flight, which disappeared a week ago, is now being looked for in two corridors: the northern corridor runs from the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan border to northern Thailand, while the southern corridor passes over Indonesia and heads into the Indian Ocean.

Razak stopped short of calling it a hijacking, but essentially confirmed reports that ruled out a catastrophic mechanical failure. “We are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate from its original flight path,” he said, but have “refocused” the probe on the crew and passengers. Soon after the leader said this, police reportedly finally searched the home of the pilot.

“We have put our national security second in the search for the missing plane,” the prime minister said before confirming that military radar detected MH370 crossing back over the Malaysian peninsula on its westward path.

Razak said countries located in the flight corridors that are now the focus of the search have been contacted so they can share radar data and “all relevant information” with the investigative teams, which include the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.

“Clearly the search for MH370 has entered a new phase,” Razak said. “Over the last seven days we have followed every lead…we hope this new information brings us one step closer to finding the plane.”

As of the press conference, 14 countries have been involved in the search with a total of 43 ships and 58 aircraft.

Malaysia has come under criticism, including from relatives of the missing, for its handling of the case and has been accused of withholding information. Razak was late to the press conference as he met with family members of some of the plane’s passengers.

“We realize this is an excruciating time for the families of those on board,” he said. “No words can describe the pain they must be going through.”

His lengthy statement then proceeded to address the rumors, laying out the facts as they now recognize them. “At every stage we acted on the basis of verified information and we followed every credible lead,” Razak said. “Sometimes these leads have led nowhere.”

“…We have a responsibility to the investigation and the families to only release information that has been corroborated and our primary motivation has always been to find the plane.”

The last known position of the plane, he confirmed, was the South China Sea before the transponder was deliberately turned off. The plane then doubled back over the peninsula and was caught on radar “proceeding on a path north of the Strait of Malacca.”

Given that “credible information,” the search was expanded to the Andaman Sea.

“Based on new satellite communication we can say with a high degree of certainty that the aircraft communication addressing and reporting system for aircraft was disabled just before the aircraft reached the east coast” of the Malaysian peninsula, he said. The jet “left primary radar coverage” when it was headed northwest.

“These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane,” Razak said.

"Satellite data shows hijacked MH370 was last seen flying towards Pakistan OR Indian Ocean, says the Daily Mail." May be he decided to commit suicide by crashing the plane over the Himalayas. It reminds me of the beginning of "Lost Horizon" a 1930's novel by James Hilton that gave the English language the word "Shangri-La".

I've been watching the news on and off all day and have yet to hear about the scandal of dirty harry and that pub. senator from Utah selling their high office favors. the f.b.i. was set upon by the d.o.j. for trying to further the investigation. gubberment gone wild.

its no wonder they get away w/ all their criminal activities. NOTHING on the news but this airplane stuff. easy to distract the masses when you control the media I guess.

What is it with the Obummer administration reducing women to "sex machines "? This sounds like the real "War on Women"!! When I was young & needed birth control pills I bought my own damn birth control pills!! I did without luxury items like a car, so I could pay for my health insurance AND birth control pills & everything else I needed.

I don't understand why it is allowed that transponder can be turned off. For what reason would you give the crew that capability in a commercial jet liner? So they could play hide and seek? Nevertheless, I understand that it just takes the flip of a switch in the 777. However, there is apparently also radio communications and an automatic reporting system that sends plane data continually. These are supposedly hard wired into the plane. Something doesn't smell right in all of this reporting.

Please remember that there are many things on a plane that authorities cannot quite disclose. I am sure there are fixed transponders in every plane since 9/11. Authorities must know a few things they cannot disclose. If the US is able to track every plane on the planet -- most specially one MADE by an American company -- that should be a very well guarded secret. In time they will find a way to disclose the info they have without making the bad guys aware of things they should not know. My 2 cents.

Likely reason to steal THIS plane: It is carrying Something Worth Stealing or Smuggling.

QUESTION: Where had this plane been in the 24 hours prior to this flight? Where had its passengers been in same time frame? This may be impossible to track, but overseas hotels often require identity papers. They would also likely have credit card trails that could be Sherlocked. If you find a few who do not have trails, you may have a "non-barking dog" on which to concentrate further research.

Regarding state actors: You can BUY a jet. Legally. I believe that there are literally tons of surplus jets down around the CA-AZ border. If anyone wants a used 7X7, just go down and haggle, Nyet?

A Boeing 777 needs far more specialized parts and servicing than a 15 year old 737 or 767. Whoever has this does not need to keep it for long.

The range and flight path suggest Golden Triangle. All of the nations in range (India, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand do not need to steal a plane. Golden Triangle has a much harder problem getting their own Air Force. But why a 777? Again, there are tons of used planes for sale in the world, and a WMD doesn't care about its delivery system.

Regarding WMD delivery systems: A shipping container is probably far more practical. And there are (again, literally) hundreds of thousands for your silver bullet to get lost among.

Just a note on the inevitable "Space Aliens". The would not have stopped at 45,000 feet! Or, its been turned into a starship, ala "Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers"!